This invention relates to apparatus for use in the manufacture of storage batteries in general, and in particular for use in the manufacture of lead-acid storage batteries such as are commonly used in automobiles and referred to as starting, lighting and ignition or SLI batteries. Conventional lead-acid storage batteries generally comprise one or more individual cells, each of which contain two or more battery plates which are separated by thin, porous separators. The individual battery plates within each cell comprise a conductive supporting grid structure which is generally made of lead or a lead alloy. The grids contain and support an active battery paste material consisting of a mixture of lead oxide and dilute sulfuric acid.
In the manufacture of lead-acid storage batteries, unpasted grids are conventionally fed through a pasting machine which applies the lead paste to the grids. It is also common practice to cast the grids in pairs which are joined along one edge and must be later separated. After pasting of the grid pairs, the pasted grids or panels pass along a conveyor through a drying oven after which they are then transferred to a slitting mechanism for separating the panels into battery plates. In conventional operations, it has been the practice to support the panels horizontally through the pasting and drying operations after which the panels are fed to a storage sump area in which the panels are supported in a vertical position. From the sump area the pasted panels are individually fed to a conveyor leading to a slitter which separates the panels into individual battery plates. The reason for the vertical orientation of the panels in the sump area is that the slitting operation often does not keep pace with the rate of panels being processed through the pasting and drying operations. This is because there are often jams occurring in the slitter operation particularly at the point of transfer from the vertical position of the panels to a horizontal position for feeding through the slitter. Additionally, much scrap and breakage of the panels occurs when they are initially oriented vertically. Naturally it would be highly desirable to coordinate the slitting, pasting and drying operations so that there would be a continuous flow of panels during all phases of the operation.
It has been found that it is impractical to mechanically synchronize transfer of panels from the point of feeding grid panels into a paster, through a drying oven and into a slitter. This is due to a number of factors well known in the art. For example, if a single conveyor were used, it would be subjected to extremely harsh operating conditions if it extended through a drying oven as well as into a paster and a slitter. Thus, design and maintenance considerations would be prohibitive. Also, in the event of a shut down of such a system for any reason, such as jams or delays, pasted panels would be stopped within the oven for extended periods which could damage them beyond use. Finally, conventional panel processing machinery is often driven by electrical induction motors whose speed varies with loads imposed whereby individual machines are not easily mechanically coordinated due to normal speed variations of the motors.
Another drawback to the conventional transfer mechanisms wherein the pasted panels are, at sometime during drying and slitting, oriented in a vertical position, is that batteries are presently being made with thinner and thinner battery grids. This is because battery capacity is directly related to the number of plates per battery cell. By utilizing thinner grids a greater number of plates may be included within the same size battery cells. Conventional transfer devices are unable to handle the thinner panels which are relatively fragile and easily bent or broken especially when transferred from a horizontal to vertical or vertical to horizontal position. By continuously handling the panels horizontally, the panels may receive more support throughout the manufacturing process.